


Watch your step, it's dark down there

by Zephies_world



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:22:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephies_world/pseuds/Zephies_world
Summary: Hey guys!! This is my first work here on AO3, and my first work in Brooklyn nine-nine. However, I have been writing for years so I really hope this is good! Enjoy :)
Relationships: Jake Peralta & Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz & Jake Peralta
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	Watch your step, it's dark down there

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! This is my first work here on AO3, and my first work in Brooklyn nine-nine. However, I have been writing for years so I really hope this is good! Enjoy :)

Jake almost didn’t hear Charles walk up behind him as he finished up his paperwork for the day. He spun round in his chair to face him and they both grinned at each other.  
“Hey Jakey! I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink at Shaw’s with me this evening?” Charles asked, eagerly.  
“Aw man – Charles, any other day and I’d say yes, but it’s just me and Alice for the whole weekend. Can we throw a rain-check on drinks?” Jake replied, the grin vanishing from his face.  
“Oh of course! Amy’s out with friends and so is Mac – you have to look after Alice.” Said Charles, facepalming. “Besides, I’d never want to take up any of your time meant to be spent with either of your children!” Charles exclaimed. “How does Monday evening sound instead?”  
“Sounds great. Have a good weekend, Charles.” Jake responded.  
“You too – and tell Allie Uncle Chi-Chi says hi!” Charles cried out as he made his way to the elevator. Jake chuckled.  
“Will do.” He said. 

Rising from his chair and slinging his bag over his shoulder, Jake nodded a goodbye to Terry and Rosa, before making his own way out of the bullpen. His next mission of the day was to pick up his daughter from hockey practice, which finished – shoot – almost five minutes ago.  
“I guess old habits don’t die hard.” Jake muttered to himself, getting into the car. Luckily for him, Mac and Alice’s elementary school wasn’t too far, and he got there within a few minutes. Alice was ready and waiting for him as he arrived. He pulled over and swung open the passenger door for her, and she jumped in, dropping her hockey stick and sports bag in the back seat.  
“Hey dad!” Alice grinned. “How was your day? Did you get any cool – I mean awful – cases today?” she inquired, as they set off home. Sniggering a little, Jake replied,  
“Yeah I did get a cool – I mean awful – case today!” He contradicted himself, with a serious tone, but struggling to hide his grin.  
“Noice! So, what happened?”  
“It’s a little icky, honey, I don’t think you want to know…” Jake said, with a slight mocking tone. His ten-and-a-half-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter weren’t really that squeamish. They’d seen crime scene photos before (albeit accidentally the first time, because it was driving Jake crazy and he obsessed over it – Amy had to force feed him when he refused to eat due to his fixation on the case). He was going to tell her, but he always liked to tease.  
“Dad, I can deal with it! Please?” she begged jokingly, giving her dad the puppy eyes that she and her older brother liked to use whenever they wanted something.  
“Okay, okay – you win. I’ll tell you.” Jake paused, not taking his eyes away from the road. “It was a murder. The weapon was hidden in the fish tank.” He said quickly. He watched Alice’s eyes widen slightly in curiosity out of the corner of his eyes.  
“Are you serious?!” she cried.  
“Yep.” Jake replied, popping the ‘p’.  
“What? Wow – that’s pretty fishy if you ask me!” Alice giggled. Jake rolled his eyes, smiling.  
“That’s a terrible pun, Allie. You should work on that.”  
They both laughed, before settling into a comfortable silence. 

“So, what’s the plan for you and me this weekend?” Alice asked suddenly.  
“It’s a surprise. I have many things in store for us, my princess…” Jake replied mysteriously, making his daughter giggle. “But I can tell you,” he continued, “that we shall begin with a classic –“  
“Oh, oh – let me guess – a Taylor Swift dance party!” Alice exclaimed, cutting Jake off.  
“Exactly! Turn up the music!” Jake cried, and less than a few seconds later, Taylor Swift came blasting from the speakers, and father and daughter began singing out the lyrics to “The Story of us” at the top of their lungs, with Alice playing air guitar. 

The singing carried on all the way home, where the two of them almost fell through the front door giggling wildly. Alice went to her room to change, before coming back to help her dad make dinner. They were making pizza, and obviously, they managed to get a large amount of flour on themselves (they may have accidently breathed some in), and left tomato sauce handprints across the worktops. As they cleaned their mess whilst the pizzas cooked in the oven, Jake was telling Alice how he solved the “murder-weapon-in-a-fish-tank” case.  
“So were the fish ok?” Alice questioned.  
“The fish were fine, Allie.” Jake replied almost instantly.  
“Oh good!” Alice paused, pondering over her next question. “How was the victim killed?”  
“Ok that I definitely won’t tell you, it’s horrifying, even for a psychotic nine-year-old.” Jake said sternly. Alice sighed, before looking up at Jake with wide, adoring eyes.  
“You think I’m crazy?” she asked.  
“Very. You’re a nightmare and Mac is insane.” Jake answered gravely, with a playful glint in his deep brown eyes. The two stared intensely at each other before they burst into fits of laughter. “You know I’m kidding, right?” Jake said, still sniggering.  
“Of course, dad.” Replied Alice. “I love you.”  
“I love you too, peaches.” Jake said, making Alice giggle at the nickname. She nudged his arm gently and grinned. He nudged back, and it soon turned into a full-on tickle fight until the timer on Jake’s phone went off letting them know their pizza was ready. 

A couple of hours later, and the two were fast asleep in Jake and Amy’s bed after watching Die Hard (Amy was still reluctant to let Alice and Mac see it, but gave in because her husband and kids were too damn cute), snuggled up together underneath the duvet, wearing their comfiest pyjamas. Alice had her fingers curled around one of the strings on Jake’s hoodie, and he unconsciously held her protectively against him. This was a tradition Jake and Amy had with their kids – when one parent was away, the kids could sneak into bed with the other. Sometimes, on special occasions, like Christmas, or Passover (with Nana Karen), both kids would sneak in the night before with Jake and Amy, otherwise they would stay up all night chatting to each other because either Alice or Mac had crept into the other sibling’s room. Jake and Amy weren’t complaining though and savoured every moment. Mac and Alice made a secret promise with each other that they’d never stop doing it, even as annoying, grumpy teenagers. It was in their rule book, which they’d turned into an actual binder and kept it hidden under Mac’s bed one week and Alice’s the next, and they had named it ‘The Code of Coconut, DLC of Pineapples’.  
“Why downloadable content of Pineapples, Mackie?” Alice had asked. Mac had just shrugged and grinned.  
“Because we can.” He said. Alice continued to argue that it wasn’t a valid reason but had gone with it anyway because she secretly loved it. They constantly added to it, and Jake and Amy had no idea that it existed (Mac and Alice intended to keep it that way). 

The house was deadly silent, until a loud SMASH of shattering glass echoed around and seemingly reverberated off the walls. Alice’s eyes shot open, and she gripped tightly onto her father.  
“Dad…” she whispered. “What was that?”  
“You heard it too, huh?” Jake’s quiet voice answered back. Alice nodded against his chest, and he pulled her in a little closer before glancing over to his bedside drawer, where his gun and badge were hidden. He slowly pulled them out and slide out from under the duvet, creeping to the bedroom door. Opening it slowly, Jake peered out into the upstairs hallway before he turned back to his daughter, face grim and gun drawn.  
“Stay here and send a message to Uncle Terry and Auntie Ro-Ro. Don’t move.” He whispered, chucking his phone onto the bed next to Alice. She picked it up.  
“Got it. And dad…?”  
“Yeah, honey?”  
“Please be careful.”  
Jake nodded and shot her a small smile. “I will.” He mouthed, and sneaking into the hallway, he disappeared into the dark. As soon as he was gone, Alice tapped in a rapid message to Terry, letting him know of the situation and asking him to bring back-up (just in case). She almost considered hiding under the duvet, but instead pulled a blanket around her shoulders and crawled to the door. There, she could listen out, just in case something bad went down and she needed to help her dad. Alice leant against the door frame, peering into the shadows and listening carefully. 

Jake edged soundlessly down the stairs and into the open-plan kitchen and living room, eyes peeled, slowly adjusting to the dark. He heard rustling coming from the far corner, then more smashing of objects. Sneaking behind the kitchen island, he tried to get a better view of the intruder.  
What does this guy want? Jewellery? Some case file to destroy? Jake wondered. He gradually snuck towards the light switch; gun pointed towards the shadowy figure. Edging ever closer to the light switch, Jake pondered on his next moves. He flicked on the light and hovered his finger over the safety of his gun, just as the intruder whipped around and did the same.

“You picked the wrong night to break into the house of an NYPD Sergeant. Put the gun down.” Jake growled. There was a moment of the two glaring at each other, before the intruder groaned and placed his gun on the ground. He rose up slowly, then swung a fist towards Jake, catching him off guard. The fist collided with Jake’s face, and he dropped his gun. The intruder leapt towards Jake and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. Jake fought to get free, hands scrabbling at his attacker, then elbowed him in the stomach. His assailant doubled over, allowing Jake to trip him up. Suddenly he was pulled down, and the two were rolling on the floor, grunting with effort at trying to subdue the other. Jake was slammed against the wall, knocking the air out of him. Winded and head spinning, Jake reached for his attacker’s wrists in an attempt to restrain him but was punched again and flung towards the floor. He stumbled, before another rough shove sent him flying. He smacked his head against the edge of the coffee table and dropped limply to the floor.

The room was spinning violently, and his head pounded, black spots beginning to dot his vision. He felt something wet and sticky drip down the side of his face onto the floor. He was drifting towards unconsciousness, eyelids slipping closed even as he willed himself to stay awake. Just as the darkness began pulling him under, Jake swore he could see another smaller silhouette creep towards his attacker, who was now searching through drawers and muttering obscenities as he had made his situation much worse. Jake waited in bated breath with his eyes tight shut and nausea sweeping over him like a blanket as the smaller shadow tiptoed silently closer. 

\---------------------------

Alice had heard the grunting and fighting from the doorway of her parent’s bedroom and debated on whether to do as she was told and stay there or ignore what her dad said and go to help him. She winced as she heard another cry of pain (that sounded worryingly like her father’s) and decided she would sneak down. It was a stupid idea and Jake would probably tell her off for disobeying, but she couldn’t care less – she wasn’t going to sit there and do nothing whilst some crazed burglar hurt her dad. Alice made her way quietly downstairs, before stealthily forward-rolling into the kitchen. The fighting continued on the other side of the kitchen island, in the living room, and Alice used this cover to grab a frying pan from out of the draw. Suddenly there was a THWACK, then silence cloaked the room.  
“Crap…”  
Someone whispered. It definitely didn’t sound like her father. She peeked over the top of the island, and spotted a hunky, shadowy figure standing over the limp form of her dad, who had his eyes screwed tightly shut. She saw the dark trickle of blood already oozing sluggishly down the side of his face. Alice had to stifle a gasp to avoid revealing her presence and strengthened her grip around the handle of the frying pan, her knuckles whitening. She edged closer, raising her weapon. Nobody hurts my dad and gets away with it. She thought. Now standing right behind the intruder, Alice took a swing and THWACK went the frying pan against the side of his head. He fell to the ground, out cold.  
“Welcome to the party, pal.” She sneered.  
“You did the thing…” A weak Jake murmured, startling Alice slightly. She grinned, before dropping the frying pan. It clattered to the floor, and Alice dropped to her knees beside her father, the grin wiped clean from her face. 

Alice’s shaking hands immediately went to grab hold of Jake’s, who tried to squeeze back but it was feeble and even the gentlest breeze could have swept them from Alice’s fingers. Jake glanced groggily up at her and smiled, although it looked more like a grimace, and he let out a soft moan of pain.  
“Oh, dad…” Alice whispered, and went to move her hands to cup Jake’s cheek, but he squeezed weakly again and Alice took it as a “don’t let go”. She stroked his calloused palms with her thumbs and wondered if there was anything else she could do to help, before the sound of approaching sirens entered her ears.  
“Hey, dad – do you hear that?” she asked, glancing quickly at the still unconscious (thank god) intruder, then looking back at her father.  
“Th’ sirns?” Jake slurred.  
“Yeah. It’s probably Terry, and then we can go to the ER-“  
“Who got h’rt?” Jake’s eyes blinked open rapidly, his pupils not focussing properly. He tried to sit up and slumped against the couch, head lolling slightly. “Are you ok?” he asked.  
“I’m fine, dad. We’d be going to the ER for you.” Alice replied.  
“...safe?” Jake inquired slowly.  
“I’m safe, dad. I’m okay.” Assured Alice. She squeezed Jake’s hands again and prayed that the sirens were Terry and back-up because Jake needed medical attention and she didn’t know how to give it.  
“Allie… ‘re you ‘k?” Jake asked again. Alice assumed that his confusion was to do with the head injury, and hoped Terry remembered where the hidden spare key was so he could get inside as fast as possible, because she couldn’t bear to leave her injured father even for a second.  
“I’m ok dad, remember? We’re gonna be fine.” Alice spoke calmly, but she was as far from calm as she had ever been in her life. Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic – dad has had much worse than this, he’s gonna be fine… 

As if someone had answered Alice’s prayers, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the almost silent house, and into the room burst Terry and Rosa. Terry pulled up the perp, who was just coming to, and cuffed him. Rosa dropped to her knees next to Alice and wrapped her arms around her in a warm and much needed hug. Alice was grateful to be one of the few people Rosa showed any sort of emotion to, so she buried her head in Rosa’s shoulder, letting a few silent tears slide out. Rosa kissed the top of Alice’s head before drawing away to check on Jake, who fortunately was still conscious.  
“You’re a bit of a mess, Jake.” She said, the corner of her mouth turning up in a slight smile.  
“No k’ddng… my brain h’rts.” Jake shot Rosa a grin, then winced as a new painful throb worked its way through his head. He groaned as Rosa tilted his head to inspect his injuries, and she placed a hand on his arm, rubbing gently.  
“You’ll be okay, dude. We’re just gonna take a trip to the ER.” She explained, nodding to Terry as he walked back in, and he radioed for an ambulance.  
“What ‘bout Allie?” asked Jake.  
“Allie’s okay. She’s safe, Jake.” Terry replied, standing back a little – too many people would confuse Jake too much; he was already disorientated as it was.  
“Okay…” 

Jake slipped into unconsciousness just as the paramedics arrived – making their job a little easier as he wouldn’t be struggling against them – and Terry, Rosa and Alice had to step back to give them space. Terry offered to drive them to the hospital, and less than and hour or so later, the three were sitting around Jake’s bed, with Alice fast asleep, her head resting on Rosa’s shoulder. Normally, Rosa found this sort of closeness extremely uncomfortable, but she had her exceptions. Alice stirred, and blearily opened her eyes.  
“Hey.” She whispered.  
“Hey, sleepy-head.” Rosa replied. Alice glanced over at Jake, then turned back to Rosa, a worried look in her eyes. “He’s going to be fine, Allie.” She murmured, giving Alice’s hands a soft squeeze. Alice smiled, and lay her head back onto Rosa’s shoulder.  
“Will you two be alright? I’ve got to get back to Sharon and the girls.” Terry piped up quietly. Rosa nodded.  
“We’ll be fine. I’ll call Amy in a bit. You go.” She said. Terry walked over and gave Alice a quick kiss on the forehead and then made his way out. 

Just as Alice was drifting off again, a groan from the bed made both her and Rosa abruptly flick their heads up. Jake blinked rapidly at the bright lights, then screwed his eyes shut for a moment before he opened them fully and let them adjust. His gaze wandered over to Alice and Rosa.  
“Hi.” He rasped slightly.  
“Hi dad.” Breathed Alice. She stared at him for a moment, then flung her arms around him and snuggled into his chest. “Don’t do that to me again, dad! You scared me…” she babbled, muffled sobs escaping her lips.  
“Oh, I’m sorry peaches, I’m sorry…” Jake muttered softly into her ear, snaking his arms around her shaking form. “I’m ok now, honey. You can stop worrying.” He said. Alice looked up at him, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes.  
“I’m always gonna worry about you.” She murmured; voice laced with sincerity. Jake beamed and pulled her in closer. He glanced up at Rosa, who gave him a gentle nudge on the shoulder and sent a rare grin his way.  
“We’re glad you’re ok, dude.” She said.  
And as Alice fell asleep in his arms, Jake knew that whether it was his friends, his wife or his kids, someone always had his back.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought, and if you have any requests please comment them here or message me on my Instagram art account @zephies_world. Thank you 💖💛💙


End file.
